Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : July 23, 2020 11:16 AM IST
As many as 165 countries have joined hands for COVID-19 vaccine global access facility.
While coronavirus pandemic is spreading with alarming speed across the globe, there is a competition among countries to be the first to bring out COVID-19 vaccine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 23 coronavirus vaccine candidates are under clinical trials around the world, and another 140 in early-stage development. But when can we expect a vaccine in the market? Don't expect it until next year, says WHO experts.
Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said that researchers are making "good progress" in developing vaccines against COVID-19, but vaccination cannot be expected until early 2021.
Speaking at a public event on social media on Wednesday, Dr Ryan asserted that several vaccines are now in phase 3 trials and none had failed so far, in terms of safety or ability to generate an immune response, a news agency reported.
WHO is working to ensure fair vaccine distribution, but it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated - the news agency quoted him as saying.
In the meantime, he said, it is important to suppress the virus's spread, as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.
Earlier this month, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan had also suggested that vaccination against COVID-19 may not happen this year. Swaminathan told media persons that there will be one or more safe and efficacious vaccines by early 2021
Swaminathan added that the phase-3 results of all vaccine trials are being closely monitored by the WHO as some vaccines may be more suitable for one age group, or one type of population group than others. The heath agency has also put forward criteria for selection of vaccines for further development, she stated then.
As many as 75 countries have expressed interest to join the COVAX Facility, a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
The 75 countries would finance the vaccines from their own public finance budgets to support up to 90 lower-income countries, through voluntary donations Gavi's COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). Together, this group of up to 165 countries represents more than 60% of the world's population.
"COVAX is the only truly global solution to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a release issued by WHO.
According to the release, COVAX aims to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification by the end of 2021.
"These vaccines will be delivered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their populations, initially prioritising healthcare workers then expanding to cover 20% of the population of participating countries. Further doses will then be made available based on country need, vulnerability and COVID-19 threat," it said.
In June, Gavi launched the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a financing instrument for incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines to ensure access for developing countries. The AMC has already raised close to US$ 600 million from high income donors as well as the private sector. The Gavi Alliance will be working with the developing countries to assure readiness of supply and cold chain and training to reach high risk groups.
